The Islands of the Blessed
The Islands of the Blessed - The third and so far the last volume of The Saxon Saga by Nancy Farmer, published in 2009. Main Plot In the third book, The Islands of the Blessed, Jack and Thorgil are now 14 years old. Pega and Thorgil lives with Jack and his parents. They also shelter Tanner’s widow and her two daughters. One day all of sudden a strange storm appears out of nowhere and turns out to be the wild hunt, a ghastly pursuit rampaging the sky, destroying what’s on its path. The hunt is led by Odin himself, and Thorgil also spots Olaf among the warriors. They damage the village and kidnap two village fools. Afterterwards the villagers begin to repair the damages. Brother Aiden rings the bell he received from father Severus. The bell is called the Fair Lamenting. Unfortunately for everyone the sound of the bell awakes a draugr, an undead creature, once a mermaid. Bard and Jack take the bell from Aiden and go to the forest to ring it. The draugr appears and Bard tries to convince her to leave without doing any harm to the villagers. Yet she is blinded with vengeance. She is the mermaid father Severus met on Grim’s Island. She wanted him to go with him to the underwater realm, and instead he turned her into a slave, tricked her, and removed from her tail. Severus believed her to be the devil’s creature. When Severus left Grim’s Island the mermaid wanted to swim after him, but drowned instead. That is how the draugr was born. The sound of the bell from Grim’s Island brought her back. Also the Bell was not ordinary – it was the Bell of Amering, which sound is heard in all nine worlds, hidden on Grim’s Island by Saint Kolumban himself. Shortly after the appearance of a draugr, Skakki comes to the village and offers help of getting to Bebba’s Town on his drakkar. Before Jack and the Bard go to a hazel forest to face the draugr and hear her plea for justice. The Bard tells draugr to stop killing innocent people, and in return he will go to Father Severus and bring justice. Draugr disappears, and two hobgoblins come out of the dark, Bugaboo and Nemesis, who wanted to check if Pega has changed her mind about the marriage. They also brought Mr. Blevit and Hazel. They stay in the Bard’s home for the night, and on the next day Bard, Jack, and Thorgil take Hazel to meet her real parents, Giles and Alditha. The meeting was not simple, but they managed, and Hazel stayed with Jack’s parents for some time. During that time Ms. Tanner’s daughters, Ymma and Ythla, are irritating Pega and Hazel, and making them upset. The siblings also stole few things, and Jack uses magic to discover their evil practices. Thus Bugaboo, Nemesis, and Mr. Blevit kidnap Ms. Tanner with her daughters to teach them a lesson. Jack follows them to the forest and saves them from the “demons”, as the Tanner family calls hobgoblins. Later on Jack casts away the Tanner family, telling them to go to Bebba’s Town. It turns out that they all go to Bebba’s Town on Skakki’s ship. When Jack and Thorgil reach Skakki’s ship on the beach they meet a new crew member, Schlaup, Olaf’s son. Pega, Hazel, and Alditha come to the beach to wish Jack and Thorgil farewell on their journey. After the goodbye they set sails and sail to Bebba’s Town – two Northmen ships, Skakki’s and Egil’s, along with Jack, the Bard, Thorgil, and the Tanners. They stop in a bay the night before reaching port in Bebba’s Town, and on that night Ymma and Ythla don’t come ashore, and steal the Fair Lamenting hidden on the ship. The next day Egil’s boat sails to Bebba’s Town port, leaving the Tanners, Jack, Thorgil, and the Bard in the city. Skakki and his drakkar stayed in the bay. Jack, Thorgil, and The Bard first visit Brutus in his rebuilt Din Guardi (which is now pink). The Bard learns from Brutus about Ethne’s problems in the Monastery, and goes there with Jack and Thorgil. The Bard introduces Pangur Ban, a cat that keeps Ethne’s company. The primary thing for the company is to get rid of the draugr problem, so they approach Father Severus, telling him the story about his mermaid’s return. Severus refuses to believe, and to pay for his sins. The Bard wants to convince Severus of the truthfulness of his story presenting the Fair Lamenting, but they discover an old pot and a rock instead of a bell, which was stolen by Ymma and Ythla. Thorgil comes up with an idea that Schlaup could hunt down the Tanners, hidden nobody knows where in the city, and he does. In the night Schlaup and Jack find them in one of the houses, but the Fair Lament is broken, one of the girls took out its Heart (made in a shape of fish), and a blacksmith flattened it. Now they need to find other way to put draugr to rest, and they decide to go all the way north, to Notland, realm of mermaids and sea hags. Before going on the edges of the world, Jack, Thorgil, and the Bard visit Father Severus to ask permission to see Ethne. Severus grants such permission to Thorgil. It appears that Ethne lives in terrifying conditions, because it is good for her penance, and her soul, as she says. Nun Brunhila promises to keep an eye on Ethne. At the bay, the problem of Tanners is being solved – Schlaup engaged and Ms. Tanner accepted (when she heard of rubies, sapphires, and other gems promised by Schlaup). They lived for the time being on the beach in the bay, while Egil sailed south, and Skakki north. During the voyage north, to Notland, Skakki makes port Edwin’s Town, the slaver’s market, where Jack and Lucy were nearly sold to the Picts. Jack goes on a night walk to the rocks near Din Eidyn, a twin fortress to Din Guardi, and lies on a large rock, with engraved mark of the Man in the Moon and the Green Man, a symbol of sacrifice. Jack was almost consumed by the force, but the bee, symbolizing the life force bit him, and Schlaup saves him. He brings him back to the ship, and the crew sails away. After sailing further north they reach Horse Island, home of Bjorn Skull-Splitter, and come ashore. On their way to Bjorn’s home, Thorgil tames one of the wild horses. Bjorn’s home, and a wall sourrounding it was made of old ruins’ rocks and stones. They are taken to the “court” by Big Half and Little Half, twins who serve Bjorn. During the feast it appears that Jack, Thorgil, Skakki, and The Bard were tricked, and trapped by Einar Addler-Tooth, who killed Bjorn years before. They stay to the end of the feast, later Little Half brings them anesthetic tea, and Skakki and the Bard are removed from the court. Jack and Thorgil stay, and she is to become Einar’s wife. The next day kids are given a tip from Seafarer how to escape. They set fire to the court, and run away with everybody, watching for a moment how the court burns. Then they all go to the village, but turn to the valley instead. Einar wants to give Thorgil to hogboon as an ultimate sacrifice, for she might be a princess, and hogboon is looking for a princess. Around midnight hogboon comes, but due to the rune of protection Thorgil bears, he cannot kill the kids, and by touching the rune he is killed instead. Jack and Thorgil set themselves free, and they spot Big Half, Skakki, and Sven who came for rescue. When they return to the village, the inhabitants take matters into their own hands and march towards Einar’s home, willing to kill him. Unable to force the wall, Jack and the Bard speak to the ghosts in the stones. Jack tells them the story how Nechtan was defeated and gone. The ghosts appreciate it and leave the wall, going to the land of neverending summer. Soon after Thorgil tells Schlaup what happened to her, that Einar wanted to sacrifice her, and Schlaup breaks through beyond the gates and kills everyone inside. Schlaup spared only Big Half and Little Half, even though the Little One was on Einar’s side. Little Half lost his wits during the attack, so Schlaup puts him to the water running in the courtyard. After releasing the spirits trapped in the stones the water was purified as well, containing lots of life force now. Little Half got better, but having mind of a child. Skakki becomes the king of the Horse Island, and decides to stay here for the winter, but before that he sails with Jack, Thorgil, and the Bard to find the gateway to Notland. It is never in the same place, but can be found in the mist. They come across mating Pictish beasts, which dead bodies are collected by the Fin Folk. To be granted the right of entry, the Bard offers the Fin Folk a polished mirror and a comb. In the City Under the Sea Jack, Thorgil, and the Bard go on a banquet to see Fin Folk’s king, Shoney. On the audience in Shoney’s palace the Bard gives him the gifts: the mirror, the comb, and the heather ale. In return Shoney allows the Bard to help set free his daughter’s spirit. The Bard takes the mirror and the comb to draugr’s tomb. Jack rings the Fair Lamenting, after replacing the broken heart with The Bard’s flute, to summon the draugr. She comes and still demands Severus’ life. The Bard offers a life for life, his life. He goes to the tomb with draugr, and Shoney seals the tomb. Later he sends Jack and Thorgil to Grim’s Island as a form of punishment. To hide from approaching storm they go to a cave that turns out to be bigger than it seemed. Jack and Thorgils find a tunnel that leads them to a tunnel, and a subcave where they find St. Columba’s cloak and staff. The next morning they smell a roasted boar. They follow the scent, and go up through the tunnel to the top of the mountain on Grim’s Island. They see the Northmen, members of the Wild Hunt, fighting, eating, and drinking. Thorgil meets Olaf, and Jack faces Odin, Allfather and leader of the Hunt. Once in a while Odin, Olaf, and the rest of the berserkers leave Valhalla, and go on a Wild Hunt. They regain their strength on Grim’s Island. After the feast with the dead, Jack and Thorgil fall asleep. After Seafarer spots the kids they are saved by Skakki. The ship swiftly sails through the sea, passing Edwin’s Town and Holy Isle, to Bebba’s Town. However, Jack and Thorgil are unable to walk into the city, because of the flying venom, a pestilence that has struck on Bebba’s Town. The disease attacked few citizens, and the monks of St. Fillian’s took care of them. When the disease began to spread Father Severus ordered to seal the monastery’s gates. Jack uses invisibility spell to get pass the guards, guarding the way from the port to town. They find a way into monastery and find sister Wulfhilda alive, she has survived the pestilence with other monks and sisters, but they are very few. Only 7 of a hundred monastery’s inhabitants. Jack and Thorgil find dying Ethne in one of the cells. Severus refused to give her food or water, because she is an elf, and the elves need to earn their souls, and a way to heaven. Thorgil sacrifices her rune of protection, and gives her to Ethne, bringing her back to life. Thorgil also gives Wulfhilda her chest filled with gems she received from Shoney. After concluding the affairs in the monastery, Jack and Thorgil go to their village to inform Brother Aiden about the events. They want to ask him to be the new abbot. On their way to the village Thoril feels ill. She got infected by the disease. Jack uses his magic, still unknown to him, to do whatever he can to save her. In the morning Jack awakes on a beach. There is also a small boat. Thorgil and the Bard are in the boat. The girl is completely recovered, even her burned arm. The Bard explains that he and Sheilla were traveling through the farthest sea, but when Father Severus died, the Bard’s promise bound him no longer. He returned to Bebba’s Town. He also informs the boy, that by saving Thorgil he has passed the exam to the School of Bards. Soon Jack, Thorgil, and the Bard sail away to Islands of the Blessed. Characters § JACK – an 11 year old boy. Son of Alditha and Giles. Brother to Hazel, step-brother to Lucy. Lives with his parents in a village in England. At the age of 11 he becomes bard’s apprentice. Along with Bard he conjures the mist to save the village from destruction. Kidnapped with his step-sister Lucy by berserkers, led by Olaf One-brow. He becomes Olaf’s skald and together with Runa, an elder skald, prepared a song in Olaf’s honor. Taken to Norway to king Ivar Boneless and queen Frith’s court. Singing a song and at the same time casting a spell on queen Frith, that revealed her true self as a half-troll, by mistake. In order to save his step-sister Lucy from death at the hand of Frith, he travels with Olaf and Thorgil to Jotunheim, to ask the Mountain Queen of Jotuns about Mimir’s Well. Drinking water from the Well could provide knowledge how to reverse Jack’s spell and bring back Frith’s beauty. Their fellowship loses Olaf in Jotunheim, who dies during the fight with giant troll bear. Jack finds a staff of an ash tree, coincidentaly burning the ice bridge to the queen’s castle, and finally gets to Jotun Queen castle. Jack encounters the Norn and in the end gets permission to go with Thorgil to Mimir’s Well. In order to drink the water he sacrificies his rune amulet and gives it to Thorgil. On their way back they are spotted by the dragon and have to hide somewhere. Unfortunately they, despite Mountain Queen’s warning, run towards the rocks instead of the forest. The rocks are in fact spiders, and kids are taken by giant spider mother to her nest on top of a tree. Jack saves the day by vibrating the web in tunes of a lullaby. The giant spider falls asleep and Jack and Thorgil are saved by Bold Heart and the 3 owls. Afterwards they go straight to the ship. They return to Olaf’s village and Jack finds the wisdom to reverse the spell put on Frith. After what he’s done, Jack is taken back home, to England. § THORGIL – an 11 year old young berserk, who dreams of dying in battle and going to Valhalla. Her mother was a thrall, a slave. Her father killed her little brother in a berserk rampage, then demanded as his dying wish that Thorgil’s mother would be burned with him when he falls in battle. After her father’s death she is taken care of by Olaf and his family. She meets Jack and Lucy when she and Olaf’s band kidnapped them in England. She teases Jack and Lucy and treats them as objects, as thralls. She stole a silver leaf necklace on one of their raids. She doesn’t have any friends except queen Frith’s hounds. On the audience at king Ivar Boneless’ court she is forced to give her silver necklace as a gift for queen Frith. Together with Olaf and Jack she travels to Jotunheim to seek help from Mountain Queen. She gets hurt during the fight with troll bear, throughout which Olaf kills the bear but dies of wounds. Before his death he proclaims Thorgil his daughter. With sprained ankle Thorgil can’t walk very fast. She and Jack are taken by the dragon mother to her nest, to be fed to baby dragons. Thanks to Jack and Bold Heart the eldest dragon baby kills the rest of his siblings and Thorgil kills him. During the fight some of dragon’s blood gets on her face and to her mouth. For some time she is unable to speak due to molting dragon blood, but is granted a gift of understanding the speech of air creatures, birds for instance. Thanks to that ability she understood three owls who were speaking about finding shelter in a hidden valley. Jack takes Thorgil and she leads the way to the valley, where they spend couple of days. When Golden Bristles finds them, they all travel to Mountain Queen’s castle, and are attacked by a giant eagle on the bridge. Thorgil kills him and they finally reach the palace. Together with Jack she is granted permission to go to Mimir’s Well. She sacrifices her dream of becoming a berserker and drinks water from the Well. After accepting Jack’s rune amulet and drinking water from the Well Thorgil changes completely. She is no longer a blood-thirsty berserker, who dreams of death. She does not treat Jack as a thrall anymore and she gains friends. Although she has sometimes her outbursts of anger, but her general attitude has changed. § BROTHER AIDEN – a Pict and a librarian monk, the last survivor from the Holy Isle. He was found by Father Severus during his penance in the forest. Aiden was supposed to be sacrificed for the Wild Hunt. Father Severus broke his penance and took the child to the Holy Isle, where Aiden became a monk. § BRUTUS – a slave in St. Fillian’s Monastery, condemned for witchcraft (more precisely, for seducing all kinds of women). According to Father Swein, Brutus’ mother was a witch. He is a son of the true king and queen of Din Guardi, before Yffi came and killed them. Brutus is an heir of Lancelot. Successfully accomplished the mission to bring back water to Bebba’s Town. § PEGA – village chief’s slave; an ugly girl with a birthmark covering half of her face. Nobody knows who was her mother, but she was condemned to slavery at very young age, and she has been sold from village to village until she ended up as a chief’s slave. § BUGABOO – king of the hobgoblins in Elfland; falls in love with Pega. § NEMESIS – Bugaboo’s advisor § GILES CROOKLEG – father of Jack and Hazel, step father of Lucy § ALDITHA – Jack and Hazel’s mother, Lucy’s stepmother; a village witch, trained in simple spells and charms § THE BARD – irish skald and sorcerer, known as the Dragon Tongue. Lured by Partholis to the Elfland when he was collecting mistletoe. Partholis was charmed with him, but imprisoned him anyway. After a year Bard got away, leaving with a part of Partholon’s best spells. He is also Ethne’s father. § 'OLAD ONE-BROW''' -' Northman; Ivar Boneless’ subject. Father of Skakki and Thorgil. He led pillaging raids on the Holy Isle and the shores of England. Kidnapped Jack and Lucy, but made Jack his skald. Alongside with Jack and Thorgil sailed to Jotunheim. Died in battle with a giant troll bear. During his former vists in Jotunheim he procreated half-troll with Glamdis, the jotun queen. § '''ETHNE – daughter of Partholis and Dragon Tongue; she escaped the Elfland when Pega destroyed the glamour. Went with Jack, Pega, and Thorgil to Midgard. In St. Fillian’s Monastery she met her father, the Bard, and decided to become a nun, in order to create a soul that would grant her a way into heaven, a soul all elves lack. § SHEILLA – a mermaid. Spreads the disease when exhales into Ms. Tanner’s brother. He dies shortly after, his house is burned, but the disease spreads to St. Fillian’s. § EINAR ADDLER-TOOTH – Bjorn’s enemy, who threw him into the sea during a sea battle. Sworn to kill Bjorn, hired a witch, who was supposed to poison Bjorn. The witch sat on an old grave during the full moon, ate one of the red mushrooms growing nearby, and went into a trance. During the trance she started to scream, and finally was eaten by a hogboon. In return for the meal hogboon asked if Einar had any wishes to fulfill. Later hogboon came to Bjorn’s court and killed him. The next day Einar and his warriors attacked Bjorn’s home. Hogboon’s act was not disinterested. He demanded a human sacrifice. At each full moon Einar should bring one man to hogboon’s grave. If not, hogboon would take Einar. Thus Einar ordered his men to demolish an old pictish tower, and make a wall of its stones around the home. § ISTOLIS – Nechtan’s bride to be. § HOGBOON/NECHTAN – evil creature that came out of an ancient barrow. "It was a tall presence wreathed in cobwebs. Its body was like the mold you find on bread. Soft-looking. It left gray footprints." It had awoken when a witch went in a trance, and consumed her. It fulfilled Einar’s wish to kill Bjorn, but asked for a human sacrifice once every full moon. Later Einar made a wall of old pictish tower’s stones. The ghosts of the dead sealed in the tower and in the rocks prevented hogboon from entering the court. During his life hogboon was a vicious Pictish king, Nechtan. It is said that he was fed with baked wolves’ hearts to make him wild. When he had come of age he made a pact with an Old God. In return for a long life he promised to sacrifice one of his sons every ten years. He sacrificed his nine sons and was left with just one. At the age of 150 he planned to take another wife to make him more sons. Yet, on his wedding day the last surviving son let in to the court the enemy’s army. They killed Nechtan and snatched his bride. Since then his spirit is searching for his betrothed. Nechtan also built a tower on the other side of the island, and buried alive 30 builders underneath it. § BJORN – one of the northmen Olaf saved during a sea battle. Bjorn’s ship was sunked by Einar Adder-Tooth. He lives in a small castle on Horse Island, made of rocks, a part of old pictish ruins. § ALLYSON – ascendant of King Hengist, one of the horse lords. Kidnapped by a Northman. § PANGUR BAN – a former bard, now a cat in St. Fillian’s Monastery, and a friend of Dragon Tongue. He was once a bard, but he stayed too long in a body of a cat he transferred to. § SAINT COLUMBA – a bard, Amering’s apprentice; one of the best bards in history. He transferred the Order of Bards to the Vale of Song in order to save it from Christians. When his time had come, it is said that he was taken to the Islands of the Blessed by Saint Brendan the Navigator on his ship. § AMERING – Christian and a bard; founder of the Order of Bards. § FATHER SEVERUS – bored by the soft and simple life on the Holy Isle, he ventured far to the north to Grim’s Island, the most unpleasant scrap of land, to live there a simple and modest life. Having only the simplest tools and one bag of grain. He built a hut of stones gathered from within the whole island, the only trees grew on a mountain top that he could not reach. He slept in a small cave, and ate seaweeds and limpets. During enlarging his cave he had found the Fair Lamenting, wrapped in St. Columba’s cloak, and hit it to hear the sound. The next day he found a large salmon left outside his cave. That happened again and again, and when Father Severus had finished building a small wooden belfry, and rang the bell, a mermaid came out from the sea. She fell in love with Severus, called by the Fair Lamenting. Severus refused to marry her, thinking of her being a demon, an envoy of satan. She returned after 8 days, but when she had dropped her scales, Severus tricked her and threw the scales into fire, making the mermaid his slave. Severus treated her as an object, because he believed she had no soul. After some time she changed into a sea hag, and Father Severus was taken from the island by abbot of the Holy Isle. The mermaid drowned and became a draugr, an undead demon. When he realized that Ms. Tanner’s brother is a carrier of dangerous disease he ordered monks to burn his hut. Yet the pestilence spread. Everyone in the monastery got infected: monks and nuns, who washed monks’ robes. Father Severus ordered then to seal the monastery, and later to keep a fast. Severus sacrificed his followers to the pestilence, but also saved hundreds of people living in town. He died of the flying venom. § SCHLAUP – half-troll, son of Olaf and Glamdis, the Mountain Queen. Olaf “made” him during one of his stays on Glamdis’ court in Jotunheim. Glamdis had to give Schlaup back to his human family in Midgard because he could not pass thought through the air like other trolls. Category:Books